A new vision for American banking

Banks play an important role in our world – they keep our money safe with savings and investments, support our daily lives with electronic payments, empower our businesses to do commerce, and provide loans to build businesses or buy homes.

Without the right bank environment, our world will become like that of Henry F. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life. Potter’s world is one in which people with lots of potential are living in poverty and dismay. The rich have unlimited potential and capital, and the regular folks fight amongst themselves for the scraps. Opportunity is missing.

We must not accept the status quo as good enough.

We can’t sit by and watch the decay continue. It is within our power to create real change in banking.

But it will require us to not accept what many say is all we can do.

We know otherwise: banking is being transformed today, on a massive scale, on distant shores and in places that we have naively assumed are lagging behind us, not leapfrogging over us.

We must bring back George Bailey and give him a mobile phone. Get banks focused once again on customers and supporting the bank customers’ success in their life and work. Use the best tools in the world to create the best banking products and services. We can, and must, change the shape of banking.

Be bold. Don’t shy away from change, even disruptive change. Let’s create a big vision for America: to have the most advanced banking services in the world, accessible by all.

It is a good destination and will also be the great foundation for economic prosperity, innovation, and entrepreneurship in America.